bjkendall

European (German) Renaissance: Albrecht Altdorfer

Like many painters of his time, Altdorfer used a technique called chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro depicts the main subject in the painting in bright, brilliant colors that contrasts the dark dreary background.
Also, Altdorfer has a unique style of painting. He is famous as the first frequent painter of pure landscape. The focus point in the painting really stands out with the bright colors. Two of his famous paintings are the Resurrection by Altdorfer in 1518, and The Battle of Issus/Alexander in 1529.
In his painting of Resurrection by Altdorfer, I like how he takes a dark and dreary background of the cave, and makes the subject explode by the bright orange sun in the background (directly behind him). It makes you look in the cave, then at the subject, then back into the cave.
In a different way, he once again captures your eye in his painting of The Battle of Issus/Alexander. This time, you are focused on the amazing scenery with the mountain in the background. It is this painting that made him famous for painting pure landscape.
In a time of major advancements from the dark ages, the age of the Renaissance was a time for change all over Europe.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/altdorfer/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_Altdorfer